• Home
  • ABOUT
  • VIDEOS
  • Contact
  • SHOP

The Impatient Gardener

Garden, Plants

THE LIFE OF A FLOWER

August 23, 2017

I have been enjoying the garden so much the past few weeks. It’s sort of a sweet time in the garden for me as most of the plants have done (or are doing) what they are going to do, the weeds, although ever present, don’t have a lot of places to grow and, thanks to a lot of rain, everything is looking pretty good. In fact anything that’s looking shabby got that way because of slugs, and that’s just a given with rain.
 
So I’ve been doing a lot of something I rarely do: Sitting in the garden. Mr. Much More Patient and I seem more intent than ever to soak in these glorious summer days while we can. Several times during the week we have a glass of wine on the patio. This is pretty much a required activity on the weekend, but in previous years we’ve not done it much on weekdays. This has allowed me to spend more than two weeks watching the same flower, just a couple feet away from where we sit.
 
I grew ‘Crichton Honey’ dahlias for the first time last year and stored the tubers over winter. It’s a short-growing ball-type dahlia that blooms in a range of colors from yellow and apricot to coral and pink. I wish that some of those planted farther back in the garden wouldn’t have been ravaged so badly by slugs.
 
I started taking a quick snapshot of this particular flower when it was just breaking bud. It was the first time I noticed how beautiful an opening dahlia bud is, like a fiery pincushion. I have taken pictures of this same flower as it got bigger and changed.
 
The last photo was taken this morning. Its petals are getting tattered—I blame that on slugs as well–and started to turn brown underneath. I have to say it’s been fascinating documenting it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
crichton honey dahlias flowers
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
5 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

View all posts by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

Related Posts

  • glowing dahliasGrowing dahlias as garden plants
  • dahlias planted in borderDahlias love garden friends
  • A summer of bouquets
  • Breakout dahliaThe dahlias you need for however you’re growing
previous post: A GARDEN VISIT
next post: THE GOOD AND THE NOT-SO-GOOD OF A NEW GARDEN

Comments

  1. Lisa Greenbow says: August 23, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    Obviously this beauty can be appreciated through each and every stage.

    Reply
  2. Kristin says: August 23, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    Absolutely gorgeous!

    Reply
  3. Irene Kimball says: August 24, 2017 at 1:31 am

    Your pictures are incredible. These flowers are so gorgeous. I tried planting some dahlias this year but chose the wrong location and I think I should have fed them much more than I did. No flowers and the bugs seemed to love them. Oh well, next year!

    Reply
  4. Joanna at Gingham Gardens says: August 24, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    That is incredible! I love how you captured the progression. I need to learn to take time to relax in the garden.

    Reply
  5. Todd Attoe says: August 27, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    Those are magnificent!! I have never seen such beauty in a flower I enjoyed the progression as much as you did.I know you are a smart lady. maybe if you drank beer in the garden to deal with the slugs. beer works good. I have to us beer to keep slugs out of my asparagus patch. we like to enjoy wine in the garden also. It will be nice to look at those pictures when it 20 below. Sipping on hot chocolate

    Reply

Leave Your Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About

The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

Here's some more about me.

CONNECT

Winner

Garden Comm award

MY FAVORITE GEAR

https://www.amazon.com/shop/impatientgardener

Instagram

The morning sun makes Aralia ‘Silver Umbrella’ glow. This is a very difficult to find grafted, variegated variety that perfectly hugs the north corner of our deck. Below it Incrediball hydrangea is starting to form flower buds.
I got my new drone last night and had just enough battery power to quickly throw it up for a herky jerky first run. It’s nothing fancy and I wasn’t really trying to film anything in particular but thought you might enjoy the view, particularly of the climbing hydrangea, which is looking gorgeous.
Let’s take a closer look at a little corner of the garden just off the patio. It will be a couple weeks before it’s really coming into its own. Swipe for closeups and names of what’s all here. Somehow the dahlias I put here didn’t end up in any pictures, but I have a short orange dahlia called Melody Swing planted in here as well.
Why yes, that is Swiss chard growing right at the front of my patio bed with all the dahlias and nicotiana and other goodies. And, assuming I can fend off ambitious rabbits or other critters, I think it’s going to be really good. Stay tuned. 😀

Follow me

SEARCH

Popular posts

  • Oh how I love a great garden path
  • HOW TO CHOOSE A MEMORIAL TREE
  • DEALING WITH DISEASE: VERTICILLIUM WILT
  • Plant to know: Lady’s mantle

Find us on Facebook

Archives

  • ABOUT
  • TALK TO ME
  • TERMS & DISCLAIMERS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Home

STAY UPDATED

Copyright © 2022 · Prima Donna theme by Georgia Lou Studios

Copyright 2009-2021 ©The Impatient Gardener